Brendon Appel-Hughes, our CSA and Farm Coordinator, has always been a man of the land. Spending a majority of his childhood outside in the woods and on the water, he developed a strong appreciation and value system for the land. After moving to North Carolina as a teenager, he spent time living in Raleigh, Wilmington and Boone, cooking at a variety of restaurants and doing lots of fishing before moving back to Raleigh to attend the Chef’s Academy, working at Mandolin and Second Empire.

Upon graduating from culinary school, he moved back to Wilmington and worked as the Executive Chef at Giorgio’s before transitioning to working at Seaview Crab Company, holding a variety of leadership roles in market management and wholesale distribution. This deep relationship in preparing, cooking and creating meals for others, while helping them to do so at home as well, inspired him to want to drive deeper in cultivating food to ensure his kitchen creatives meet the high standards and ethics he harbors.

In addition to his work at Feast Down East, he is also the male and poultry half to Greensky Farms, his farm in which regenerative practices are implemented to grow and restore the land. You can find him on his off days working on the farm, cooking up something amazing, and, if timing allows, fishing.

brendon@feastdowneast.org, 910-524-0128